Optimism and positive feelings rest at the foundation of both a happy and healthy life. Avoiding unhealthy and harmful foods is extremely important for maintaining a healthy body and a healthy brain, but it is your own thoughts, perceptions and thinking processes which profoundly impact the health of your mind and body alike. Even while you’re engaging in a healthy diet and lifestyle, you may find yourself feeling sluggish and unhappy. It is at this point you need to consciously think about how you are feeling and transform your current thoughts.

Re-Frame Events and Occurrences to Instantly Feel Better

One of the first steps to becoming a professional optimist is to learn about the concept of re-framing. Negative events which occur in our everyday lives have a negative impact on most individuals, but they simply don’t have to. Any negative occurrence has the potential to be re-framed into a positive outlook — depending on how much the individual has practiced this concept. Losing a job is an event generally viewed as a negative event, but were you truly happy working this job every single day? Having a steady income itself is an important factor in happiness levels, but there are always opportunities in the future — even if they aren’t in your direct line of sight. Rather than thinking about the negative aspect, re-frame the situation and think of any way this could result in a positive outcome, because if you do then it probably will.

Re-framing applies to every single event and action that occurs, whether it be a flat tire, a mistake made in your business, or a problem with your spouse. These events are viewed as problems, but re-framing each occurrence so that they simply become challenges or opportunities completely shifts the way you feel. Humans inherently are drawn in by challenges to overcome. If the problem isn’t transformed into a challenge, then an opportunity will surely do. Using this technique is a great way to indirectly eliminate most problems from your life.

The Push for Change

While practicing and mastering the art of re-framing, there is an unfortunate truth where you may need to delve into an aspect of life that nearly everyone is deathly afraid of — change. Changing your perception on events and instances is a great step to becoming an optimist, but you may need to make some serious changes in your life to reach a true point of happiness. Jealously and envy too often supercede any positive feelings other may have regarding your success, and this will hamper your ability to create positive and lasting change. Being one of the hardest things for people to do, eliminating the negative influences from your life is a primary reason for settling in most any respect.

Now is when you have to take a hard look at the people you are surrounded by at home, the neighborhood, and work. As you begin to push for a higher quality of life, you will unfortunately come to the conclusion that many of the people around you are bringing you down. As difficult as it may be, you will find that changing the people in your life is an absolutely must if you are to be as happy and optimistic as desired. Luckily, once the hump of this change is passed, the new, positive individuals suddenly coming into your life will escalate your happiness level and ultimately lead to more successes all around.

Post written byMike Barrett:Mike is the co-founder, editor, and researcher behind Natural Society. Studying the work of top natural health activists, and writing special reports for top 10 alternative health websites, Mike has written hundreds of articles and pages on how to obtain optimum wellness through natural health.